A hero in a dream:
Singing in the garden and a blond boy, the most vibrant blond imaginable, interrupted me. I ran from him.
Going to greet my people, a hand shoves me from behind and I stumbled forwards. The balcony below me crumbles and I'm falling. Falling. Falling. And he comes from nowhere, sailing through the air and catches me in his arms as if I weigh no more than a feather. I hit him repeatedly then thank him.
He talks with me like I'm normal, he actually talks to me. A conversation, there are so few that I can converse with. I tell him what happened, I tell him my name and who I am, he tells me his name, Naruto and who he is. I confide in him.
Three masked men appear, one I noticed has blond hair like the boys, but they don't know each other. Naruto protects me when he thinks they're after my life. I watch him.
We move indoors and the three masked men talk with Naruto, he's from the future. So is a man who appeared six years ago, a man they call Mukade, he's the bad guy, making weapons in my kingdom, evil. The only man who came then was Anrokuzan, my only friend in the world, the man who was with me when my mother died. I decide they're lying, I scream that they're wrong and storm off to prove Anrokuzan's innocence. I run from him again.
'Give them back' my kidnappers demand, they grabbed my arm and pulled me into a room as I passed. Someone is after my life, Naruto was right. Naruto jumps in and scars them off. I fight the urge to hide behind him.
We go to the parade that Anrokuzan started years ago to cheer me and the people up after my mother died. The women weren't bad; they wanted back their relatives that had been taken. They're my people. 'Puppet princess' they call me, once again I'm made upset. Naruto cuts the strings of my people, they're not having fun like I thought, no one is happy. They're just a bunch of wooden puppets. Phonies. Fakes. I run from him a third time.
I sit on the stairs and sing our song, my mothers and my song. He finds me, he follows my voice, 'that's the song you were singing the first time we met' he smiles down at me. His smile is brighter than his hair and orange attire. I tell him about Anrokuzan being there for me, for starting the festival, about my mother's death and her life. He listens to me and in return tells me in his own words that he understands. He has no parents either but he had a master, 'Ero-sennin' who is also deceased now, but taught him many things. 'Your mother must have left you something important too, you should think about what she valued, then you'll know what you have to do' he tells me. He's talking about himself as well as me, he's so far away, deep in memories, things that make him strong. I trust him.
Down to the underground we go, I follow the tube of Ryūmyaku energy supplying the town. I use the powers I have as a queen ofRōran, powers I barley ever, if ever, use. Two of the women leave us just as we go down. He promises to bring back their loved ones. We go down the ladder; it's too dark to make anything out. I smile at him, knowing he can't see.
Gasp. I fight the urge to scream in rage. My men are being used as slaves, forced to create an army of puppets for Anrokuzan. We sneak through the heavily guarded torture chambers, running from pillar to pillar, taking cover in the shadows. I let him lead me.
The floor is hard on my knees as I fall to the ground and chant. I have to stop the Ryūmyaku and I have to save my people. That's what I have to do. Anrokuzan appears as the puppets finish themselves anyway, the army's done, we were too late. Naruto has moved to my side. I look pleadingly to him.
Naruto won't give up, he fights to create a path for me to escape, to get my people and run. All I seem to do is run away from him. But it gets worse. I see his arms clamped by wood and a cage start to build itself around him. The vibrant blond is getting locked in, only a rectangle left open for his face. He screams at me to run, he'll take care of things here. But he's lying, I know he can't. I stare in fear because he's trapped and his chakra is being drained. I feel terror for him.
Anrokuzan tells me about his plans, what he's doing and what he's done. He killed my mother. She knew he was using her for his own plans so he murdered her. Naruto is still shouting for me to save my people and I can sense his chakra growing. He's fighting but I don't know how, I don't look through my hands which are covering my eyes. I ignore his pleas.
I'm lifted by something hot, fierce and angry, something that isn't solid, liquid or gas. It must have been him. I let him save me again.
It's the most frightening thing I've ever seen. Naruto punched him and his face cracked then repaired itself. Worse, it gets much worse. He starts to merge with the puppets. The bright blond is fighting this monster. The bright blond is loosing to this monster. I still can't help him.
The masked men appear. I don't trust them like I trust Naruto. But they keep saving Naruto and they have the strength that I lack. I do as I'm told this time and I free my men, running with them to the surface and they're waiting families, escaping the horrific battle. I leave him behind.
Followed, I'm followed by that monster as he calls my name. What does he want with me, why does he want me? Naruto's, many of them are hanging from this huge thing. 'We'll take care of everything here so take everyone and run. You have to protect everyone' my complaints would be useless because he's right. He's always right. 'You're the queen' you must protect your people, the end of his unfinished sentence. I let him stall for us.
Falling, the towers surrounding us that I planned to use as shields are falling. My mother's kingdom, her creation is no match for this wooden creature. It knocks down skyscrapers like dominoes. They trusted me and I failed. I'm caught like a puppet, that thing is pulling my strings. I'm strangling myself; I'm hitting my citizen who tries to help. I'm relying on Naruto again as he comes crashing down, cutting the strings that hold me captive. I fall on him.
Cold, the handle of his blade is cold in my hand. I am not a puppet princess, he tells me, he's right again. 'Do what you have to do' he continues with words that give me hope again. Crash, I hear the stone break as he's thrown like a rag doll into it after running from that thing's attacks. He's giving us a chance to escape. I think of a second plan, a better plan. I hear our song again; I listen to the words and for the first time search for their meaning. The garden, the garden is the meaning, it's our safe haven. It's hard not to cry as I see him being beaten. I call for him.
The moment my voice reaches him he turns and I stab my robes, ripping my clothes off. I cut them so it's easy to move and so that I look like one of my people, not better or separate, a part of them, one of them. I know what I have to do, I know what I can do, I know where my strength is. I can seal the Ryūmyaku and stop Anrokuzan's regeneration using it. I can lead my people to the garden where they will be safe. I let him see me lead this time.
Down and round the puppet thing goes, climbing down the spiralling tower to us. I hear Naruto and the once masked blond man who now that his face is revealed I can see looks a lot like the former blond mentioned. I run and leave him to fight.
Jammed, the door won't budge, the mechanism has been broken and it won't open. Please I pray, I beg for it to open for us, to save my people. The blade Naruto gave me starts to glow purple and the handle goes from cold to warm. The perfect size to fit in the slice in the stone, scratch, I push it in and use all my force. Just a millimetre but better than nothing, in it jolts that tiny amount and then my people come to my aid. Together we push until it unlocks and opens. In the run but I stay and as it closes they noticed I'm not with them. 'I still have something I have to do' I say seriously to them and the bricks close up. I run to him.
Dropping, he's dropping a tremendous height but I have to believe in him. I run up and call his name, sinking to the ground at his side as he pulls himself up with a brave face. I inform him that everyone's safe and that I'll seal the Ryūmyaku, he smiles. He's so strong, so ridiculously strong. I don't even react to the puppet this time, if I hurry I can save Naruto and I trust in his strength. Running once again. But this time for him and not away from him. Running, running and still more running. I run for him.
Ryūmyaku looks straight at me, it seems like an eye, alive. One, two, three and the eye slides shut, cutting off the power Anrokuzan had been using. A further three seconds and all the illuminating purple light had been shut off. I give him his chance.
Fire fly's up, the ground is trembling. Anrokuzan had been defeated but now he's bringing everything down with him. It's all going to explode. He's coming for me, Naruto is coming, I can see the bright colours of him charging over the breaking bridge. The elder version of him following just behind. And I slip off the edge. He catches my wrist and starts to pull me up. I let him save me.
Rumble, again the world shakes and we both start to fall. There's no hope as we fall to the lava. Wood. I swear that wood has just appeared and caught all three of us, placing us safely out of harms way. It did, a mans arm turned to wood and he saved us. I let him hold me protectively.
Over, it's over, Ryūmyaku has been sealed. My kingdom wrecked but that doesn't matter, it's not the place but the people that matter. I know that now. Over, our time is over, time is correcting itself and he's going back to the future with the wood man.
'Sara, you did what you had to do right? You're already a great queen! You will be fine even without us around.'
'Yes, I will never forget you, Naruto.' I agree, he's taught me so much, I'll rule my people by his influence.
My memory will be wiped, the older Naruto say's it's for the best and set up the Jutsu. Naruto asked him if he was his father, the man didn't give a straight answer but it was pretty much a yes. Happy, I am so happy that he got to meet one of his parents.
'Naruto, Rōran might disappear like you said. But I have the people of Rōran with me! I will do what I have to for these people! It's what you taught me, Naruto!' Now he knew, even if he'd forget once he woke up, for now he knew just how much he'd done for me, for all of Rōran.
He smiled at me as he glowed even more. 'Yeah! If you have the guts, you will surely be able to do it!
I walked forwards and hugged him as he disappeared. 'Naruto.' I called his name one last time.
My vision cleared and I was lying in the sand where my kingdom had once stood, surrounded by my people. Men in masks like the ones in my dream had saved our village. In my hand I still grasped the blade the hero of my dream had given me.
"Even if you were just a hero in a dream, I will never forget you because I made you a promise that I wouldn't and to never break promises is one of the many things you taught me, my hero, Naruto." I whispered as I set of with my people, ready to start anew as nomads, still holding my treasure to my heart. The treasure handed to me by a hero in a dream.
A/N: Just finished watching Naruto Shipp. Movie 4: The Lost Tower, yeah I'm a little behind but it was awesome. This was written in one night and it is written very differently to my other fics, so please review and tell me what you thought and if there are any mistakes so I can fix them!